Elevator latch



Aug. 16, 1932. SMITH 1,871,825

ELEVATOR LATCH Original Filed April '7, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l N. K. SMITH ELEVATOR LATCH Original Filed April 7, 1930 Aug. 16, 1932.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 16, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i k NELSON SMITH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO BYRON-JACKSON 00., 01' LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE ELEVATOR LATCH Original application med April 7, 1930, Serial 110. 442,259. Divided and this application filed .Tune 29, 1931. Serial No. 547,523.

This invention relates to side door elevators of the type used in the raising and lowering of well casing, tubing, and the like, in the rations of drilling a well and maintaining same in production. A

, An object of the invention is to provide a latch that operates in a vertical plane, the

path of movement of z'zion of the invention said latch also being in from a detailed descripwhen taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 is a plan view of a side door ele vator constructed in accordance with the pro- ;1s1ons of this invention;

Figure 2 is a front Fig. 4;

elevation of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation from the'right of Figure 4 is a fragmental view, partly in section, on thefline indicated by IVIV,

igure 5 is a fragmental front elevation of a modified form of the invention showing the latch and a portion of the door; and

Figure 6 is a fragmental plan view of the modified form of the tion, on the line indie invention, partly in secated by VI-VI, Fig. 5.

Referring at present more particularly to Figures 1 to 4 of the or jaws 8, 9 are provided. The jaw 8 may drawings, two members he considered the body of the tool and the Jaw 9 is commonly known as the door. The body 8 and door 9. are hingedly connected by a pivot or pin 10,

the mounting of which is preferably of special construction to secure rising of the door relative to the body when the door is being opened and lowering of said door when thedoor is to be closed.

This special mountin be described:

g of the pivot will now right angle to the pivot 10 so that in the The pivot pin 10 is not positioned parallel to the axis of the elevator bore 11 but is at an angle to said axis. Viewed from either side of the body 8, the pivot 10 extends aslant downwardly and outwardly, as shown in Fig. 3. Viewed from a position in front of the door of the elevator, the pivot 10 is positioned so that it extends aslant inwardly and downwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. The end portions of the pivot 10 are mounted in upper and lower ears 12, 13 of the body 8, said pivot being preferably fixed in said ears. The pivot 10 passes through upper and lower ears14, 15 of the door 9, said ears 14, 15 being, in this instance, disposed between the ears 12, 13. The holes 16 in the ears 12, 13, 14, 15 are constructed so that their axes extend aslant to the axis of the bore 11, the slant being the same as described above for the pivot in order to secure the'desired slant of the pivot. When the door is open it is supported by reason of the ear 15 resting on the car 13 and when said door is closed it is not only supported by the ear 13 but is also supported at its free end by a shoulder 17 on the body 8. The lower face 18 of the car 15 and the upper face 19 of the ear 13, being adapted to engage, are disposed at a opening movement of the door 9 perfect .hinging takes place and the full area of the faces 18, 19 are in engagement. Preferably the lower face 20 of the ear 12 and the upper face 21 of the car 14, also, are disposed at a right angle to the pin, though said faces 20, 21 need not necessarily be in engagement but, preferably, are slightly spaced as indicated in Fig. 2.

The slant of the pivot 10, as viewed from either side of the elevator and as viewed from the front, has been described above, and in this instance the amount of slant is such that the upper and lower ends of the axis of the pivot are substantially on the same are of a circle of which the axis of the bore 11 is the center, or, in other words, the upper and lower ends of the pivot are approximately the same distance from the axis of the bore.

The body 8 is provided at its opposite ends with supporting trunnions 22, which are in alignment, and the prolonged axes of which pass through the axis of the bore 11. These trunnions 22 need not be further described, nor the latches 23, which cooperate therewith, as they constitute no portion of the present invention and may be of any suitable construction for connecting the elevator with links of a hail of the character employed with elevators of this type.

The bore 11 comprises the concave inner face 24 of the body 8 and theconcave inner face 25 of the door 9. The face 24 extends over 180 of circular measurement while the face 25 extends over considerably less than 180 of circular measurement. The face 24 is substantially circular for 180 and said face has forwardly and outwardly flaring portions 26 so as to readily admit of the entrance of the casing or other member that is to be supported by the elevator.

Though any suitable latch may be employed with the construction hereinbefore described, there is provided a special latch which will now be described: Mounted in the body 8 and projecting forwardly therefrom is a latch pivot 30, said pivot being horizontally positioned or in other words, lying in a plane at right angles to the axis of the bore of the elevator. It is also positioned at a right angle to a vertical plane passing through the trunnions 22. Hung on the pivot 30 is a latch 31, the tip 32 of which is adapted to engage with a shoulder 33 that is formed by the front face of a lug 34 that projecm laterally from one end portion of the door 9. Preferably the shoulder 33 extends aslantinwardly toward the bore and the front face ofthe latch tip 32 has a complementary slant, fjiijsjshown at 35, so as to closely cooperate with the shoulder 33 to hold the door in closed position. This construction of the shoulder 33 and face 35 tends to prevent opening of the latch, since, to open said latch, it is first necessary to move the door 9 inwardly in order that said latch may pass thejouter end of the shoulder 33.

The latch includes an upwardly extending arm 36 and said latch is yieldingly held in latching position by a coil spring 37 which has one end resting against the latch 31 outwardly from the pivot 30 while the other end of said spring rests within an angular lug 38 that projects forwardly from the body 8. Between the lug 38 and the body is a slot 39 into which the latch projects.

The arm' 36 is provided with a handle 40 that projects laterally from said arm. The handle 40 projects into a plane that passes througha handle 41 projecting outwardly from the middle portion of the door, thus facilitating release of the latch with one hand of the operator and opening of the door with part of the operator to close the. door as the closing must be done while the elevator is rising into position to engage beneath the coupling or collarj This elevator lends itself readily to rapid operation, as the operator has only to slam the door, and if it is slammed hard enough to permit the lug 34 to pass the shoulder 32 of the latch, any subsequent opening pressure exerted by the casing on the gate serves merely to lock the latch more firmly instead of tending to release it. This desirable locking tendency is created by slanting the cooperating latch and lug faces so that the door must close tightly to release the latch, and open slightly as the latch is fully locked.

When it is desired to release the elevator from the tubing or casing, the elevator will be lowered to disengage the seats 27 28 from the coupling or collar, the latch will be retracted and then the door will be opened. Any outward pressure on the door 25 tends to lock the latch, thus guarding against accidental opening when casing is being supported by the elevator, but when the casing is loosely contained within the elevator, the

door can readily be forced inward far enough to retract the latch.

Now referring more particularly to Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, which illustrate a modified form of the latch, the elements that correspond in function to those hereinbefore described, are indicated by the same reference characters with the addition of the sufiix a.

The principal difference between this latch construction and that above described is that this modified latch is mounted on the door and because of this certain modifications of the construction are necessary or advisable. The coil spring 37a has one end inengagement with an upwardly extending arm 42 of the latch 31a and has its other end engaging within a seat 38a in the door., In this instance, the lug 34a is angular and projects forwardly from the body 8a and the latch 31a engages behind the tip of the lug 34a. The latch 31a is mounted in a vertical slot 39a. in the door and the pivot 30a extends across said slot and has its opposite ends extending through holes 43, 44 in the door. The arm 36a is of angular construction and terminates in a laterally extending handle 40a.

It will be clear that the two forms of latch operate substantially alike and that they both operate in a vertical plane, by rotation about a horizontal axis.

I claim:

1. An elevator comprising a body provided with members pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, one of said members provided with a horizontal pivot projecting forwardly therefrom and offset from the bore of the elevator, the other member provided with a lug, and a latch mounted on said pivot engageable with the lug.

An elevator comprising a body provided with members pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, one of said members provided with a horizontal pivot projecting forwardly therefrom and offset from the bore of the elevator, the other member provided with a lug, a latch mounted on said pivot engageable with the lug, the face of the lug engageable by the latch extending aslant inwardly toward the bore of the elevator.

3. An elevator comprising a body provided with members pivoted together and recessed to formthe bore of the elevator, one of said members provided with a horizontal pivot projecting forwardly therefrom-and offset from the bore of the elevator, the other mem- I ber provided with a lug, and a latch mounted on said pivot engageable with the lug, that portion of the face of the latch thatengages the lug extending aslant inwardly toward the bore of the elevator.

4. An elevator comprising a body and a door pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, a horizontal pivot pro ecting forwardly from the body, the axis of said pivot being in a plane that is offset from the bore of the elevator, a lug projecting laterally from one end portion of the door and provided with a shoulder, and a latch hung on said pivot and adapted to engage be-' hind said shoulder.

5. An elevator comprising a body and a door pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, a horizontal pivot pro ecting forwardly from the body, the axis of said pivot being in a plane that is offset from the bore of the elevator, a lug projecting laterally from one end portion of the door and provided with a shoulder, and a latch hung on said pivot and adapted to engage behind said shoulder, the rear face ofsaid shoulder extending aslant inwardly toward the door.

6. An elevator comprising a body and a door pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, a horizontal pivot of said pivot being offset from the bore of the elevator, an angular lug projecting forwardly from the body, and a latch hung on said pi rot" and adapted to engage behind the tip of said latch.

8. An elevator comprising a body and a door pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, a horizontal pivot projecting forwardly from the door, the axis of said pivot being offset from the bore of the elevator, an angular lug projecting forwardly from the body, and a latch hung on said pivot and adapted to engage behind the tip of said lug, that face of the lug engaged by the latch extending aslant inwardly toward the door.

9. An elevator comprising a body and a door pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, a horizontal pivot projecting "forwardly from the door, the axis of said pivot being offset from the bore of the elevator, an angular lug projecting forwardly from the body, and a latch hung on said pivot and adapted to engage behind the tip of said lug, the face of-the latch tip that engages the lug extending'aslant inwardly toward the door.

10. An elevator comprising apair of members hinged together and recesse to form the bore of the elevator, one 0 said members provided with a horizontal pivot on the end opposite said hinge, the other member provided with a lug on the end opposite said hinge, a. latch mounted on said pivot engageable with the lug, the face of the lug engageable by the latch being slantedto form an acute angle with a plane normal to said pivot, the direction of said slant being that which will impede opening rotation of said latch when opening force is applied to said members.

11. An elevator comprising a body provided with members pivoted together and recessed to form the bore of the elevator, one of said members being provided with a lug at its free end and the other member being provided with a horizontal forwardly projecting pivot adjacent its free end, the axis of said pivot lying substantially parallel to the direction of initial movement of said lug when said body members are moved from their closed to their open position, and a latch mounted on said pivot having a face engageable with a face of said lug and bein rotatable about said pivot into either latche or unlatched position.

12. An elevator as described in claim 11 further characterized in that the enga g faces of said latch and lug lie at a s lght angle to the plane of rotation of said latch about said pivot, the direction of said angle being such that openin movement between said lug and latch positlvely locks said latch against rotation into unlatched osition.

Signed at Los Angeles, Cali ornia, this 19th day of June, 1931.

NELSON K. SMITH.

mums.

DISCLAIMER 1,871,825Nels0n K. Smith, Los Angeles, Calif. ELEVATOR LATCH. Patent dated August 16, 1932. Disclaimer filed April 27, 1943, by the assignee, Byron Jackson 00. Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 1, 4, and 11 in said specification.

[Oflict'al Gazette May 25, 1.943.] 

